Denny & Chad Brauer - Professional Bass Fishermen

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Fishing Lay-Down Trees
By Denny Brauer

Laying down trees are tremendous fish holders. I love fishing shallow heavy cover and laying logs are one of my favorites. For one thing, you can use several techniques to catch fish from them. I love to pitch my Strike King Pro Model Jigs around them, but other techniques have also paid off very well for me. Crankbaits and spinnerbaits are to lures that have brought a lot of fish into my boat from around lay-downs.

The spinnerbait probably ranks as the number one lay-down bait because you can do so many things with it. Do not be afraid to let it flutter down or bump the tree on occasion. Many of your strikes will occur when you do drop the bait over a limb. I prefer to use either a 3/8 oz. or 1/2 oz. Strike King Elite spinnerbait for these occasions. I let the water clarity, baitfish, and size of bass I am targeting determine the color and blade size I use on these spinnerbaits. One thing that I really like about the Elite spinnerbait for lay-downs is the large hook. I seem to hook fish very well with this bait and that leads to a high percentage of bites being put into my boat. I always use at least 20lb test Stren line when spinnerbaiting lay-downs, you need that heavy line to pull the fish out of the cover.

Crankbaiting lay-downs has produced alot of big bites for me. Again I use heavy line, 20lb and higher, to get the fish out of the tree. Bouncing the crankbait off of the limbs is often the key to get the fish to bite. George Cochran used this very technique to get 2nd in last years Bassmasters Classic on High Rock Lake, NC. He was using a Series 4 Strike King Crankbait, which has a wide wobble and deflects well off of the limbs. Too bad George did not have any of the new Flippin' Tubes I designed, or the Classic may have been a real close race.

When using these two baits for fishing lay-downs, do not be afraid to make repeated casts at the same tree. Start on the outside of the tree and work your way into the thick part of the lay-down. This will allow you to possibly catch multiple fish off of the same tree. Also pay attention to where the lay-down is located. Lay-downs on pea gravel banks are great in the spring, while lay-downs on flats are often best in the fall. Lay-downs next to deep water are best in the summer and winter.

Pay attention to lay-downs they are some of the best cover you will ever find, and they tend to produce a lot of big bites. So before you tackle those big fish on lay-downs, you better eat your Wheaties.